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(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 1.

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SELF REEFING SPRITSAIL RIG. No. 577,923. Patented Mar.2,1897.

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(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 2. L. A. KIMBALL.

SELF KEEPING SPRITSAIL RIG- 93 0. 5719123. Patented'Mar. 2,1897.

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No. 577,923. Patented Mar. 2, 1897.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LUGIAN A. KIMBALL, OF PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND.

SELF-REEFING SPRlT-SAIL RIG.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 577,923, dated March 2, 1897.

Application filed July 18, 1895. Serial No. 556,325. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LUOIAN A. KIMBALL, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city and county of Providence, in the State of Rhode Island, have invented a new and useful Self-Reefing Sprit-Sail Rig, of which the following is a specification.

As sprit-sail rigs had been-known and used prior to my invention, the lower end of the sprit was held in a loop or becket or snotter upon the mast, and in order to raise the sail it was necessary for the boatman to go forward in the boat and lift the sprit and sail bodily and drop the lower end of the sprit into the loop or becket. To lower the sail, he was obliged to go forward and lift the lower end of the sprit from the loop or becket by whichit was held to the mast, tip the boom up against the mast, and lift the mast from its step or tube. The sail could not in any emergency be reefed.

lVhile the sprit-sail has long been considered a very simple and effective rig for canoes and larger open boatsand skiffs, it has not been considered a safe rig for the reasons that it could not be rooted in any emergency and that it could not be lowered without the boatman shifting his position and thereby increasing the liability to capsize. Such rig has heretofore proven objectionable in use, because of the tendency of the loop or becket to drop and allow the sprit and sail to fall at inopportune times and frequently to the serious injury of the boat, and also because of its liability to become tangled in putting up and taking down the sprit and mast.

The purpose of my invention is to provide a rig which will be safe under all conditions and in the hands of persons not skilled in sailing craft, which will not tangle up, which will set flatter and sail closer to the wind than any other rig heretofore known, which will by its own weight quickly reef the sail by rolling it up on the boom, or by which the sail can be instantly brailed to the mast, and by which the sail can be raised, lowered, reefed, or brailed at the will of the boatman without his leaving his seat in the stern of the boat.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is an elevation showing in solid lines the sail, sprit, and boom in sailing position and by dotted lines the position of the same parts when the sail is reefed. Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the mast, showing top-lif t line and sprit-halyard hoist. Fig. 3 is a side elevation of top of mast, showing arrangement of blocks for top-lift, sprit-halyard, and reefing-lines. Fig. 4 is a plan view of the blocksupporting clamp on top of the mast. Fig. 5 is a side elevation of a portion of the mast and slotted tube, showing the clamp which secures the tube to the mast and also serves as guides for the top-lift and sprit-halyard lines. Fig. 6 is a plan of the same, with the mast shown in section. Fig. 7 is a side elevation of the outer end of the sprit and the endless halyard for hoisting'the peak of the sail. Fig. 8 isa plan View of the same. Fig. 9 is a side elevation showing a portion of the mast and slotted tube, the becket holding the lower end of the sprit, the sprit-halyard hoist, the reefing-line, and reefing-line buckle. Fig. 10 is a longitudinal section of the lower end of the spritand the reefing-line buckle, the latter engaging the reefing-line. Fig. 11 is a section on line 11 11 of Fig. 9, taken at right angles to Fig. 10. Fig. 12 is a transverse section on line 12 12 of Fig. 9. Fig. 13 is a top view on line 13 13 of Fig. 9. Fig. 14 is a side elevation of a portion of the boom, showing hanks and the endless brailing-line passing along the top and bottom sides of the boom. Fig. 15 is a similar view of a hollow boom with the endless brailing-line passing through it, sail-holding buttons sliding in slot in the top of the boom,

and in section, the ring at the outer end of.

the boom by which that end of the boom is held up, and in which the end revolves as the sail is hoisted or rolled up. Fig. 16 is a side elevation of a portion of the mast and inner end of boom, showing attachment of boom to mast (the boom being in reefin g position) and showing also the reefing-line and endless brailing-line. Fig. 17 isa similar view showing the boom in the sailing position. Fig. 18 is a plan View of the same parts. Fig. 19 is a side elevation showing the boom unlocked from the mast-clamp for removal. Fig. 20 is a section on line 20 20 of Fig. 16. Fig. 21 is a section on line 21 21'of Fig. 16. Fig. 22 is a section on line 22 22 of Fig. 16. Fig 23 is a side elevation of a portion of the boom,

showing the boom-traveler, sheet-block, toplift line, endless brailing-line, and brailingline stop. Fig. 24: is a top view of the same. Fig. 25 is a front view of the boom-traveler and sheet-block, the mast being shown in section. Fig. 26 is a side elevation of the outer end of the boom, boom-supporting ring, toplift line, sheet, and endless brailing-line. Fig. 27 is an end view of Fig. 20. Fig. 28 is a detail View of top-lift-line stop. Fig 29 is a section on line 29 29 of Fig. 16.

Similar reference letters indicate like parts where they occur in the drawings.

A represents the mast, which is stepped in the boat in the ordinary manner.

A represents an open-slotted tube extending longitudinally of the mast for a suitable distance and held at its lower and upper ends, respectively, by the mast-clamp A and clamping-ring A both of which latter are provided on their starboard and port sides with eyes through which the top-lift and sprit-hoist lines are respectively run to prevent their be ing tangled. The luff of the sail is preferably secured to buttons which slide freely in the open slotted tube A.

A represents a clamping-ring secured to the top of the mast and serving as a support. for the system of blocks used for the top-lift, sprit-hoist, and reefing-lines. Said ring is looked upon the top of the mast by a transverse bolt in such manner that its jaws will stand apart, as shown in Fig. 4, to receive the eye or hook of a block engaging said transverse bolt. Said ring A is also provided on the outer side of each jaw with a horizontallyprojecting eye, as shown in Fig. 4, adapted to receive the hook of other blocks, and is thus adapted to hold at one and the same time three blocks in horizontal alinement with each other and thereby prevent them from fouling.

It is essential that in sailing a boat the boom 13 shall be able to swing freely in the horizontal plane, '6, 6., from port to starboard, and vice versa, that its outer end be capable of being raised and lowered in the vertical plane at will, and that the boom be capable of being brought into the level or horizontal position, and in that position revolved to unroll and to reef the sail. To adapt the boom to perform these three distinct and necessarily independent movements, I have invented a novel device for securing the inner endof the boom to the mast-clamp A I turn the inner end of the boom in the form of a spindle, grooved, as at b, and secure it in a housing B by means of a. transverse bolt 1), on which the boom is free to turn as the outer end of the boom is moved in its vertical plane. The groove at b in the spindle end of the boom engages with the top side of said bolt 1) when the boom is revolved to unroll or to reef the sail. The said housing is ably held therein by a link when the boom is level and also when the outer end of the boom is raised and held up by the top-lift line, as shown in Figs. 16 and 17. In order to detach the boom from the mast, the outer end of the boom is, by slacking up on the top-lift line, allowed to drop below the level, when the link 19 will drop from the pintle 5 as shown in Fig. 19, and the boom can be removed, or will drop out of its own weight. In case of breakage of the top-lift line the boom will drop out Without injury to its parts or connections.

In my invention the becket C is movable vertically along the mast and slides freely thereon as actuated by the sprit-hoist in raising the sail or by the weight of the sprit when lowered. Said becket is of novel form, being provided with a body portion or wing extending inboard and having an obliquelydirected slot 0 near its innermost side adapted to receive a strap or yoke s, which is firmly bolted or otherwise secured upon the lower end of the sprit S and serves as a hinge upon which the sprit can swing freely in sailing. When the sprit is raised, the yoke will move inward in said obliquely-directed slot 0 toward the mast and be held in that position while sailing, thereby holding the lower end of the sprit close to the mast. hen the sprit is lowered, the yoke s will move outward from the mast in line with the spindle on the boom, so that the sail can be rolled up evenly on the boom in reefing. It will thus be seen that the sprit has free swinging movement upon the yoke and slot as a hinge, and also that as the sprit is raised or lowered its lower end will move in said slot toward or from the mast.

An automatically-acting buckle D is secured upon the sprit near the lower end of the latter. To the upper end of said buckle I secure the sprit-hoist line E, by which the sprit and becket are raised upon the mast, said line passing up through a block H, down along the port side of the mast, through the eyes of the clamping-ring A and mast-clamp A a deckblock, and aft within reach of the seated boatman. An endless reefing-line F takes one or in ore turns around the boom near its inner end, passes up by one side of the sprit, through the roofing-block G, and down through the buckle D at the end of the sprit. (See Figs. 3, 9, and 10.) Said buckle D grips the reeling-line when reefin g, but lets go when the sail unrolls from the boom in being raised. It does not take hold unless the sheet is pulled to depress the boom and tighten the reeting-line, and it is easily adjusted, if necessary, when hoisting the sail. An endless top-lift line runs from the stop ring or yoke, near the double block at the top of the mast, down along the starboard side of the sail, through the starboard ring in the boom-traveler, thence aft through the starboard eye of a loose ring R at the outer end of the boom, (in which latter ring the outer end of the boom revolves freely in rolling up or in unrolling the sail,) turning back through the port eye of said ring R, through the port eye of the boom-traveler, and following up along the port side of the sail to the stop ring or yoke, from which a single line runs-through the top-lift blocks J J (suspended in vertical alinement with each other, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3,) down the starboard side of the mast, through the guides or eyes on the clamping-ring A and mast-clamp A through a deck-block, and aft within reach of the seated boatman.

A11 endless line S extends on both sides of the sprit S and, running through said sprit near its upper and lower ends, as shown, and provided with suitab1y-placed stop-rings or stops adapted to limit its movement in either direction, serves to raise and lower the peak of the sail upon the sprit.

An endless brailing-line B running along the top and bottom sides of the boom and through the latter near its outer and inner ends, serves to brail the sail, the foot of which is attached to said line. When ahollow boom is used, the upper part of the line B may run inside of the boom, which would in such case be provided with a slot on its upper side to permit the suitable securing of the foot of the sail to the brailing-line B The lower portion of said brailing-line being under the boom will be within convenient and easy reach of the boat-man.

A line S running from the peak of the sprit through a block at the top of the mast, down along the mast, and thence aft within reach of the seated boatman, serves to brail the sprit S to the mast.

The loose ring R on the outer end of the boom is provided with eyes R R for engage ment with the top-lift line, as hereinbefore described, and with a third eye R to which the end of the sheet is secured. The boomtraveler T is provided with eyes T T through which the top-lift line is run, as hereinbefore described, and is removablyclamped upon the boom by the sheet-block X, which is provided upon the upper end of its strap with a cam-like projection adapted to press against the under side of the boom B when the block is in its normal position, and to thereby clamp the ring or traveler T upon the boom. By raising the block Y into a horizontal position the ring or traveler T is released from the boom and carried to the end of the boom by the strain of the top-lift line.

A ring Z, sliding upon the boom, which is slightly tapered for a short distance from and forward of the position occupied by the traveler T in Fig. 23, serves to bind the brailingline B upon the boom when the sail is eX- tended, and said ring is moved aft along said boom.

In small boats or canoes the link b can be dispensed with, the sail-buttons in the mast or mast-tube in conjunction with the top-lift line, secured to the outer end of the boom, serving in such case to hold the pintle b in the jaws of the mast-clamp A The top-lift, sprit-hoist, and reefing-blocks J, J, H, and G being, as shown, suspended from the top of the mast in vertical alinement with each other are thereby prevented from fouling. The top-lift line being endless will be self-regulatin g, causing the sail to set flat, and besides holding up the outer end of the boom will hold the sail and sprit in proper alinement with the boom in reefing. The sail is preferably secured to the mast, sprit, and boom by buttons engaging and sliding in slots in the mast, sprit, and boom, or in slotted tubes secured upon the mast, sprit, and boom.

WVhen the sail is raised, the traveler T is, v

to reef the sail, the boatman reaches up without leaving his seat and pulls the sheet-block Y toward him, thereby releasing the traveler T, which, with the sheet-block Y, will, by the strain of the top-lift line, be automatically carried aft to the end of the boom, thereby'enabling the sail to be smoothly rolled up on the boom. To reef the sail, the sheet-block Y is pulled intoa horizontal position and flies aft, as described, to the end of the boom, the sprithoist is then slacked or let go, when the weight of the sprit and top of the sail will operate the endless reefing-line F to revolve the boom (which upon the above-described movement of the sheet-block and traveler will have assumed a level or horizontal position) and roll up the sail. A portion ofthe luff of the sail is preferably cut away, so that the sail will roll up on the boom without being tangled with the reeling-line.

lVhen it is desired to use paddles or cars instead of the sail, the latter may be disengaged from the mast and sprit and wound upon the boom, the boom detached from the mast and stowed in the bottom of the boat, and the sprit either swung up against the mast and there secured or unshipped from the becket and stowed with the boom and sail. The mast may be unstepped in the usual manner.

I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. In a sprit-sail rig, a boom mounted for pivotal and vertical movement, and revolubly supported at its ends, a sprit mounted for pivotal and vertical movement and provided with hoisting means, an endless reeling-line engaging said sprit and boom near their inner ends, and a sail secured to said sprit and boom, all combined with each other and with a mast and adapted to serve as specified to automatically wind the sail upon the boom when the sprit is lowered and to unwind the sail when the sprit is hoisted.

2. A self-reefing sprit-sail rig, consisting of aboom. revolubly supported at each end, a sprit mounted for pivotal and vertical movement and provided with hoisting means, and at its inner end with a clamping-buckle, a reefing-block, and an endless reefing-line wound around said boom near its inner end and engaging said reefing-block and buckle, and a sail secured upon said boom and sprit, all combined with each other and with a mast, all arranged and adapted to serve as specified to automatically revolve said boom by the weight of the descending sprit and sail and thereby wind the sail upon the boom.

3. Aboom mounted for pivotal and vertical movement and revolubly supported at each end, combined with a mast, a sprit mounted for pivotal and vertical movement, a sail secured to said boom and sprit, means forhoisting and lowering said sprit and sail, and other means for automatically revolving said boom by the weight of the descending sprit and sail.

i. A sprit mounted for pivotal and vertical movement, and a becket mounted for vertical movement and provided with an obliquelydirected slot, combined with each other, as shown, and with a mast and hoisting means.

5. In a sprit-sail rig, a becket mounted for vertical movement and provided with an obliquely-directed slot, a sprit having its lower end mounted for pivotal and vertically-inclined movement in said slot, and means for hoisting said becket,combined with each other and with a mast, all arranged and adapted to serve as and for the purpose specified.

6. A boom B, having a spindle-shaped inner end grooved as at b, a housing 13, adapted to receive said spindle end of said boom, and provided with a downwardly-extending pintle b atransverse bolt Z), all combined with each other and with an open-jawed mast-clamp A and automatically -removable link b and adapted to serve as and for the purposes specified.

7. In a sail-rig, the boom-traveler T, provided with eyes T, T adapted to receive the top-lift line, and to take up the slack thereof as the traveler is moved inward along the boom, and the sheet-block Y, suspended on said traveler, combined with each other and with a boom; said sheet-block being adapted to serve, as specified, to releasably lock the traveler on the boom, and said traveler being capable, under the strain of the top-lift line, of movement to the outer end of the boom, when the sheet-block is raised to release the traveler.

8. In a self-reefing sprit-sail rig, a boom, capable of being revolved upon its supported outer and inner ends, an endless reefing-line wound around said boom near its inner end, a sprit secured at its lower end to the mast and movable longitudinally of the latter, a buckle D, having its lower end secured to the lower end of said sprit and movable therewith and thereon, and its upper end secured to the sprit-halyard, said buckle engaging one side of said endless reefing-line, a mast, suitable systems of blocks suspended in vertical alinement with each other from the top of the mast, and a top-lift line, all combined with each other and with the sheet, whereby said reefing-line and sprit-halyard are drawn taut and the buckle D caused to firmly grip the engaged side of said reefing-line, and to retain its grip thereon While the sprit is descending, thereby causing the boom to revolve and roll the sail up on it.

9. In a sail-rig, a boom B and an endless brailing-line B extending along the top and bottom sides of said boom and passing through the same near its outer and inner ends, combined with each other and with a sail and means for movably securing said sail upon said boom, and other means for securing the foot of said sail to said brailing-line, all arranged and adapted to serve as specified to allow the boat-man by pulling on the lower portion of said brailing-line to brail the sail upon said boom without leaving his seat in the stern of the boat.

10. The boom' B, endless brailing-line B and a sail combined with each other and with a movable ring 2 surrounding said boom and brailing-line and adapted for movement along said boom to releasably clamp the brailingline against the latter.

11. The buckle D, and a sprit S both connected and mounted for vertical movement, means for imparting down ward vertical movement to the same, a boom B mounted for vertical movement and revolublysupported at its ends, an endless reefing-line E engaging said sprit and boom near their inner ends, and engaged as to one of its sides by said buckle D, all combined with each other and with a mast, sail, and means for depressing the outer end of said boom.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto setmy hand, in presence of two witnesses, this 16th day of July, 1895.

LUCIAN A. KIMBALL.

Witnesses:

HENRY MARSH, J 1:, ERNEST GOLDING. 

